#4
Nate Marquadt
Summary: Very well rounded.
Fighter Info
Nickname:The Great
From:Lander, Wyoming USA
Fights Out Of:Denver, CO USA
Age:32
Height:6' 0" ( 182 cm )
Weight:170 lb ( 77 kg )
Marquardt began his professional mixed martial arts career in 1999, amassing victories in various promotions before entering the Bas Rutten Invitational 4 tournament, which was organized in such a manner that the tournament winner was to be offered a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Despite winning the tournament, Marquardt was offered no such contract.[12] Instead, he signed with Japan's Pancrase organization, which had fostered such fighters as Ken Shamrock and Bas Rutten. In his first Pancrase fight, Marquardt lost via submission to Genki Sudo.
Invited back to Pancrase for a middleweight elimination tournament, Marquardt defeated Daiju Takase, Kiuma Kunioku, and Shonie Carter to become the first middleweight King of Pancrase. Marquardt defended this title twice before being defeated by Kunioku in December 2001. A final encounter between the two fighters in December 2002 saw Marquardt defeat Kunioku once again to recapture the King of Pancrase championship, which he held for nearly a year.[
On November 30, 2003, Marquardt was involved in a brief altercation with middleweight opponent Ricardo Almeida in a Pancrase title fight. Marquardt, who was caught in a guillotine choke, tapped out; The referee, however, was unable to immediately separate the fighters, and the choke remained applied around Marquardt's neck. After he was freed, Marquardt threw a strike at Almeida's face, prompting both corners to storm into the ring – including Renzo Gracie. Renzo was cornering Almeida, and once in the ring he kicked Marquardt in the face.[13] The confrontation eventually came to an end, and Marquardt approached Almeida after the bout to congratulate him. After Almeida vacated his title in July 2004, Marquardt proceeded to regain the championship in a victory over Kazuo Misaki at Pancrase: Brave 10.
On May 1, 2005, Marquardt defeated Izuru Takeuchi, winning the Pancrase middleweight championship for a seventh time – the only fighter to ever accomplish such a feat.[14] It was then announced that Marquardt would be making his debut with the UFC in August, live on Spike TV, headlining the inaugural Ultimate Fight Night card in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Although his debut ended in success – Marquardt earned a decision victory over UFC veteran Ivan Salaverry – post-fight drug testing controversy led to Marquardt's suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Marquardt tested positive for high levels of nandrolone, which led the commission to file for his suspension. Marquardt maintains that he only used over-the-counter supplements in preparation for his fight. Marquardt was initially suspended for six months and assessed no fine.[15] Marquardt's suspension was reduced to five months and he was reinstated in January 2006.[16]
With the drug testing controversy resolved, Marquardt was set to make his return to the UFC at UFC 58, fighting a mixed martial arts veteran in Joe Doerksen. The fight proved to be a successful endeavor for Marquardt, as he won a unanimous decision. In the post-fight interview, Marquardt stated his goals of capturing the UFC middleweight championship and his intention to fight then-champion Rich Franklin. Marquardt then fought Crafton Wallace – a replacement for Marquardt's original opponent, Thales Leites – on the undercard of Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter on October 10, 2006, winning by rear naked choke in the second round. Due to his commitment to the UFC, Marquardt relinquished his title as the middleweight King of Pancrase that same month.[17]
At UFC Fight Night 8, Marquardt notched a dominant three-round decision victory over ADCC champion grappler Dean Lister that saw two judges score the bout 30-25 for Marquardt.
Following that victory and a 4-0 debut in the UFC, Marquardt was scheduled to compete for the UFC middleweight championship held by Anderson Silva on July 7, 2007 at UFC 73.[18] Marquardt lost the championship bout by technical knockout due to strikes at 4:50 in the First round of the fight.
After early speculation that Marquardt's contract with the UFC could expire without renewal,[19] he confirmed that a new agreement had been signed with the organization. Marquardt's next match was to be against Thales Leites at UFC 81, but Leites withdrew from the bout due to an injured hand. This marked the second time that a bout between Leites and Marquardt had been cancelled. On January 9, the UFC announced that veteran Jeremy Horn would be Leites' replacement.[20] Marquardt defeated Horn via guillotine choke.
Marquardt finally fought Thales Leites at UFC 85, a fight that had been postponed on two separate occasions since 2006.[21] Marquardt controlled Leites for the second and third round of the fight but landed an illegal knee strike to the head of Leites in the second round. In the third round Marquardt landed an elbow to the side of the head of Leites, as was seen on instant replay. However, Referee Herb Dean mistakenly judged the elbow to be to the back of the head resulting in a second deducted point for Marquardt. The deducted points proved to be crucial in the judging as Leites was deemed victorious in a very controversial split decision, giving Leites a title shot against Anderson Silva.[22][23][24] Marquardt was next scheduled to face Martin Kampmann. Nate defeated Kampmann in 82 seconds by throwing a head kick and landing a barrage of strikes to take the win by TKO in the first round.
Marquardt obtained a second straight win to launch himself back into the title picture at UFC 95, when he defeated well-regarded Brazilian fighter Wilson Gouveia with another barrage of strikes to earn a third round TKO. Marquardt's next fight was against the then-undefeated submission specialist Demian Maia at UFC 102, which he won via KO 21 seconds into the first round by landing a counter straight right as Maia threw a leaping leg kick. Maia fell face down, unable to protect himself. Nate rushed in to follow up with a right hook, but stopped himself once he saw that Maia was visibly hurt. Following his victory over Maia, Marquardt was scheduled to fight Dan Henderson to determine number 1 contendership to Silva's Middleweight Championship. Henderson left the UFC for Strikeforce after attempts to agree on a new contract failed. A new bout was arranged between Marquardt and American wrestler Chael Sonnen, scheduled for UFC 110 and later moved to UFC 109. Marquardt was taken down at will by Sonnen multiple times during each round. Although able to lock in a guillotine choke late in the 3rd round, Marquardt was not able to finish the submission attempt and lost the fight in an upset via unanimous decision.[citation needed]
Marquardt was expected to face Alessio Sakara on July 3, 2010 at UFC 116 but the fight was cancelled after Sakara pulled out due to the death of his father.[25][26]
Marquardt was expected to face Rousimar Palhares on August 28, 2010 at UFC 118,[27] however the bout was moved to September 15, 2010 to headline UFC Fight Night 22 after Alan Belcher was forced to pull out of his bout with Demian Maia with an eye injury.[28]
Marquardt defeated Rousimar Palhares via TKO (punches) at 3:28 of round 1 at the main-event of UFC Fight Night 22. During the fight Palhares went for a heel-hook however Marquardt inexplicably slipped his leg free and quickly turned the tables for a first-round TKO victory. However this came with some controversy. Once Marquardt pulled his leg free, Palhares looked at his hand and signalled to officials and seemingly complained that Marquardt was greased. Marquardt capitalized on the opening and pounded Palhares with a quick barrage of punches. The ending, though, was not due to any illegal circumstances. UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan immediately announced that Marquardt had passed an inspection from the ringside physician and the referee. Marquardt explained that before the fight; "I came out really warm because I wanted a good sweat," which explains why he was slippery and managed to remain elusive.[29][30][31] Marquardt’s trainer Greg Jackson Stated that officials checked Marquardt before the fight for any greasing type substance.[32]
Palhares and his team later apologized for the false accusations, Palhares stated: "I'm very sorry for the accusations I made, Nate Marquardt did not cheat in any way, and I'm very sorry to him and his team for my actions in the fight. I congratulate Nate on his win. I learned another lesson for my career in the fight, and I apologize to Nate, his team and the UFC for any issues I contributed to."
Palhares' longtime manager, Alex Davis, said that greasing has proved an issue in previous bouts for Palhares, and in one of the most important fights of his career, Palhares just froze. "Rousimar has had to deal with opponents greasing before", Davis said. "I truly believe it's turned into a paranoia for him. When Nate's leg slipped out so quickly, Rousimar froze. You could tell he was just thinking, 'Here we go again. But I looked at Nate's legs myself. The commission checked them out, too. There was certainly no grease there. It was our error, and we owe Nate an apology, as well as Greg Jackson and the rest of his coaches and team."[33]
Less than a week after his win over Palhares, Marquardt was tapped to make a quick return to the Octagon to face Yushin Okami on November 13, 2010 at UFC 122, replacing Vitor Belfort[34] as Vitor was promoted to a title fight in lieu of Chael Sonnen and his suspension for PEDs. The winner of Okami vs Marquardt was expected to get the next shot at the UFC middleweight championship. Marquardt lost to Okami at UFC 122 via a unanimous decision.[35]
Marquardt was expected to face Yoshihiro Akiyama on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128.[36] However, Akiyama pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Dan Miller.[37] Marquardt won the fight via unanimous decision.
After defeating Dan Miller, Nate's teammate GSP, gave him the idea of dropping down to 170.[38] Marquardt is expected to debut at welterweight against Anthony Johnson on June 26, 2011 at UFC on Versus 4.
